Haunted places in Romania

King Louis I of Hungary grants the Saxons of Kronstadt the privilege of building a stone castle at Bran. It becomes a guard post and customs station on the road into Wallachia.

Bram Stoker’s novel places Count Dracula’s castle in the Borgo Pass of northern Transylvania – far from Bran. Stoker drew on books and travel writing; he never travelled to Romania.

The castle is given to the Romanian royal family and becomes Queen Marie’s favourite residence. She renovates the medieval interior and fills it with furniture and art still on display.

The biologist Alexandru Sift begins visiting the forest and, by later accounts, photographs unexplained, cloudy forms among the trees. Sources disagree on the exact years, and only a few of his pictures are said to survive; his claims are later cited as the start of the legend.

During a picnic in the clearing, Emil Barnea and his companions watch a shining, disc-shaped object cross the sky for about two minutes, and he takes several photographs of it. The images, investigated by the Cluj engineer Florin Gheorghiță, are published in the Romanian press in September 1968.

The chemist Adrian Pătruț publishes material linking the forest’s alleged phenomena to “psychic energies”, popularising the idea of Hoia-Baciu as a paranormal hotspot.

After a long restitution case, Princess Ileana’s children reopen Bran as Romania’s first private museum, keeping both its royal history and its Dracula branding.

American and European paranormal series film in the forest, and Halloween features in the international press bring a steady stream of visitors and guided night tours.

In an Airbnb promotion, two contest winners spend Halloween night at the castle in velvet-lined coffins – reported as the first overnight stay there since 1948.